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Paul leads Clippers over Kings

Nov 2, 2013 - 5:13 AM Sacramento, CA (SportsNetwork.com) - Chris Paul scored 26 points and dished out 10 assists as the Los Angeles Clippers held off the Sacramento Kings, 110-101, Friday night.

Paul drained the go-ahead 3-point shot midway through the final quarter, and Blake Griffin contributed 20 points, 17 rebounds and six assists.

Jamal Crawford ended with 18 points for the Clippers, who have won five of their last seven in Sacramento.

"It was a track meet. It was physical too," Clippers coach Doc Rivers said.

Isaiah Thomas had 29 points and DeMarcus Cousins netted 24 points and 10 boards for the Kings, who were coming off a season-opening win over the Nuggets Wednesday.

"Any time we play a division rival it's going to be a hotly-contested game. We just have to have great mental toughness," Kings coach Michael Malone said.

A dunk from Jason Thompson put the Kings up 92-90 with 6:43 remaining, but then came Paul's 3-ball, which put LA ahead for good.

The Clippers went 16-of-17 from the foul line in the final quarter. Griffin and Paul combined to make all 17 of their attempts from the charity stripe in the contest.

Because of the accuracy at the line, the Kings were never closer than five points in the final minute.

Crawford drained a jumper early in the second to open a 33-22 lead for the visitors. LA was up, 54-45 at halftime.

The advantage grew to 15 early in the third, but the Kings closed within 79-77 going to the fourth. Travis Outlaw tipped in Cousins' miss from the left baseline at the buzzer.

Game Notes

Crawford went 3-of-5 from 3-point range. He has 1,544 made threes in his career, which is in 16th place all-time. He moved ahead of Tim Hardaway (1,542). Eddie Jones (1,546) is in 15th place ... The Clippers made half of their 24 3-point shots.